Government to press ahead with budget 'blueprint' amid continued opposition in Senate, says Joe Hockey

Mr Hockey said the Government would press ahead with its budget measures.

AAP: Alan Porritt

Treasurer Joe Hockey says the Government will press ahead with its budget "blueprint", in an apparent step back from his previous threat to bypass Parliament and force through new spending cuts if the Senate is not willing to negotiate.

Billions of dollars in key budget measures, including a $7 fee for GP visits and an increase to the fuel tax, remain stuck in the Upper House because of opposition from Labor, the Greens and the Palmer United Party.

When asked about any alternative budget cuts, Mr Hockey said the Government would press ahead with its budget measures.

"This is our budget, this is our collective blueprint to strengthen the economy," he told Channel Nine.

He added that he would "carefully go through the entire budget" inferring that other cuts may still be considered.

Mr Hockey's junior minister Steve Ciobo says the Government is not focused on any "Plan B".

"What I'm focused on is Plan A," he said.

"Plan A is the Coalition's clear determination to put through the Parliament our plan to make sure the nation lives within its means and lives in a sustainable way."

Mr Hocked has targeted Labor and Greens opposition to the budget as the biggest stumbling block, even though Clive Palmer's party - which controls four crucial balance-of-power votes in the Senate - also opposes several measures.

This morning the Treasurer laughed off suggestions Mr Palmer was his "daddy".

"The Australian people are my daddy ... and my mummy," he said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says the budget is "unfair" and has defended Labor's decision to block savings measures it had promised or supported prior to the election.

"The world has changed a lot in the last 12 months," he told ABC's AM program.

"We're the Labor Party. We're not going to start putting new taxes on people who earn $19,000 a year, especially when the new government is doing them over in 10 different ways."

Hockey says GST hike won't fix budget woes

One of the Coalition's newest - and arguably most influential - senators, Queensland's James McGrath yesterday called for dramatic changes to the taxation system.

The former party strategist told Parliament in his maiden speech that he wants the GST lifted to 15 per cent and to apply to "everything" and says the payroll tax should be abolished and company tax reduced.

Mr Hockey says a hike in the GST will not fix the budget's woes.

"That is not the answer, because the problem has been excessive government spending," he said.

"And if we don't reduce Government spending, ultimately you keep borrowing money, borrowing money. And if you tax people more, you reduce the power of the family."

Labor Senator Doug Cameron says he is "gobsmacked" about Senator McGrath's speech and has called him an "extremist".

"They don't know what it's like for an ordinary person to live," he said.

Parliament will begin sitting this morning for the final scheduled sitting day before a five-week winter break, amid widespread expectation the Senate will finally vote to repeal the carbon tax.

Mr Shorten has confirmed the Labor Party will campaign at the next election - due in 2016 - to bring back an emissions trading scheme.

"We've seen now that's now going to be repealed. Labor will now go back to basics. We believe climate change is real. We want to act," he told AM.

Mr Shorten said the ALP would refine its policies in the lead-up to the poll.